Make Middle Eastern Chicken Shawarma at Home (2024)

FAQs

What is shawarma chicken made of? ›

Traditional chicken shawarma is basically well-marinated chicken, layered on a vertical rotisserie or spit where it's slow-roasted for days--in its own juices and fat--until perfectly tender and extra flavorful!

Shawarma is made by alternately stacking strips of fat and pieces of seasoned meat on a vertical spit. An onion, a tomato, or a halved lemon is sometimes placed at the top for decoration. The meat is roasted slowly on all sides as the spit rotates in front of, or over, a flame for hours.

You've got to spice it delicately. Remember: it's a complement, not the main dish. Typically, shawarma sauce contains mayonnaise, ketchup, a pepper sauce of some sort and if you're paying over N2000, probably some chilli sauce.

To serve it, thin layers of meat are shaved off the spit and piled up into a warm pita pocket with heaps of fresh toppings and a good drizzle of tahini sauce. You do not need a special rotisserie or spit to make it at home. In this easy homemade shawarma recipe, you just need a large skillet or cast iron grill pan.

Shawarma is packed in dietary fiber, vitamin B6, healthy salt and zinc. But overeating may cause food poisoning and unhealthy weight gain. Diabetics must avoid shawarma to prevent coronary artery diseases. Consult your healthcare expert if you are planning to add it to your daily diet plan.

Shawarma is prepared from thin cuts of seasoned and marinated lamb, mutton, veal, beef, chicken, or turkey. The slices are stacked on a skewer about 60 cm (20 in) high. Pieces of fat may be added to the stack to provide extra juiciness and flavour.

A Middle Eastern staple, shawarma seasoning is made with a unique combination of spices including cumin, turmeric, and paprika. It's bold, bright, and unbelievably delicious. If you've never had it, you're in for a serious treat! All you have to do is combine the ingredients in a bowl, and they're good to go.

Shawarma is all about the delicious sauces that accompany the meat – typically garlic yoghurt or tahini and hommus – and the secret ingredient: pickles. Pickled vegetables are what take shawarma to a whole new plane: pickled cucumbers, turnips, and even carrots or mangoes are common.

When people in America hear the term shawarma, they think of gyro, and while gyro is prepared the same way as shawarma, it is not created using the same kind of meats. Gyro is made with ground meat, lamb, beef, or goat.

The white sauce served with chicken shawarma is toum basically garlic sauce and beef shawarma is served with thin Tahini sauce it is a sesame seed paste.

Which type of shawarma is best? ›

Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan over a medium-high heat. Season the chicken with salt. Add the chicken to the pan in batches to help create a really deep golden crust on the surface and to add flavour and texture.

Gyro is savory with a hint of sweetness and garlic, while Shawarma has a smoky flavor with a hint of sweetness from the marinade. To add flavor and texture, both dishes can be topped with various sauces, pickles, and vegetables. The main difference between shawarma and gyro is the type of meat used.

Gyro is savory with a hint of sweetness and garlic, while Shawarma has a smoky flavor with a hint of sweetness from the marinade. To add flavor and texture, both dishes can be topped with various sauces, pickles, and vegetables. The main difference between shawarma and gyro is the type of meat used.

The main shawarma-kebab difference lies in how the meat is cooked. For shawarmas, the meat is usually cooked using a rotisserie, while kebabs are prepared skewered. The doner or the kebab base is the only kind that resembles the classic shawarma.

What does chicken shawarma taste like? There are many different versions of chicken shawarma, but the marinade spices often include garlic, cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, turmeric, and paprika. The grilled or roasted meat has a complex flavor that's a delicious combination of tangy, warm, and smoky.

While both gyro and shawarma are made with lamb, shawarma can also be made with chicken or turkey and topped with tahini and pickles; whereas a gyro is traditionally made with lamb, beef, or sometimes chicken and pork. The other difference between gyro vs. shawarma is the toppings.